Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Makes New $1.85 Million Investment in Greif, Inc. $GEF

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Greif, Inc. (NYSE:GEF) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 27,633 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,853,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of Greif by 106.0% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 616 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Greif by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 689 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Greif during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $84,000. Simplex Trading LLC boosted its position in Greif by 399.5% during the 4th quarter. Simplex Trading LLC now owns 1,853 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,482 shares during the period. Finally, Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in Greif during the 1st quarter worth $201,000. 45.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Timothy Bergwall sold 2,000 shares of Greif stock in a transaction on Friday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.14, for a total transaction of $146,280.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 63,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,668,672.48. This trade represents a 3.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,000 shares of company stock worth $412,120. 7.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on GEF. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Greif from $79.00 to $78.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Greif from $74.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Zacks Research raised shares of Greif from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Greif from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Greif from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Greif currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $78.25.

Greif Trading Down 0.7%

Greif stock opened at $86.69 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a PE ratio of 33.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.76. Greif, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.75 and a 12-month high of $88.50.

Greif (NYSE:GEF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.50. Greif had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 8.09%. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.86 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Greif, Inc. will post 3.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Greif Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 17th were given a dividend of $0.62 per share. This is a boost from Greif’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Greif’s payout ratio is 95.02%.

About Greif

Greif, Inc is a global leader in industrial packaging products and services, with a history dating back to its founding in 1877. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, the company has evolved from a regional barrel and drum manufacturer into a diversified packaging provider serving a wide range of end markets. Greif’s longstanding heritage in container solutions has positioned it as a trusted partner for customers seeking reliable, high-quality packaging options.

The company’s core business revolves around the design, manufacture and sale of industrial packaging products, including steel, plastic and fiber drums; intermediate bulk containers (IBCs); safety closures; rigid, flexible and reconditioned packaging; containerboard and protective packaging.